NOVEMBER 28, 1951

PARIS, Tuesday—Gradually our delegation is losing some of its members. The Secretary of State left for Rome a few days ago, and, though we have wise and capable and experienced leadership in Ambassador Austin, we all miss him.

Admiral and Mrs. Badger came to have tea with me on Saturday and they left on Sunday to go to Rome and then on home. It is very interesting to find in talking to Admiral Badger what a keen sense of the broad economic situation he has in relation to the military situation.

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Italy, which is at best having a hard time from the economic point of view, has had to undergo disastrous floods in the north, and the papers have had photographs of whole villages and small towns being rescued from the rising waters. Aid will come from our country and many other countries nearer by, but nothing can replace for these poor people the houses and the belongings that are gone forever.

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Anyone who is over here for any length of time soon discovers what a close tie there is between the economic and military situation, and how important a study of both must be in planning for the future.

There has been a great deal in the papers here about Mr. Glenn McCarthy's acquisition of oil in Egypt. But it seems to me that what we need in this area at present is a visit from a group of enlightened industrial leaders from the United States—hard-headed and sound, but also realistic enough to have learned at home that much of their own future depends on the future of their workers.

The fact that there is a tie between prosperity and the buying power and opportunity open to the workers is something I do not feel has as yet penetrated into the business practices of the free enterprise systems of Europe.

Some of the things I have heard said at home in criticism of the New Deal sound funny over here, and I hope the great influx of Congressmen that I have seen traveling abroad in the last month has been making a comparison between the economies of various countries they have passed through. One needs to know the economic picture and the setup and effect of the various Social Security systems. We should understand the industrial leaders' attitude here and the results of the whole picture on different government situations.

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Saturday night Miss Thompson, my grandchildren and I went to the first French play I have seen since my arrival. It is called "La Repetition." The lines were clever and the acting excellent. I do not know enough about French playwrights as yet, but certainly the author, M. Jean Anouilh, has written a clever play and the leading lady, Madeleine Renaud, has both charm and beauty.

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I was, of course, particularly happy to welcome my old friend, Henry Morgenthau Jr., and his bride to Paris and to our Thanksgiving Day dinner, which was their first meal here.

On Sunday they joined me at lunch with Madame Pandit and Mr. and Mrs. Torres-Bodet. He is the director general of UNESCO and there is always much to talk over when one sees a representative of this interesting, specialized agency.

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Saturday afternoon I had the pleasure of meeting and talking with Mr. and Mrs. Blandford. Mr. Blandford has done such good work with the Arab refugees and is here to give his report. It was a pleasure, too, over the weekend to have a chance to see Miss Riegelman, Mr. Isadore Lubin's fiancee, who came up from Geneva where she is working.

E. R.

(WORLD COPYRIGHT, 1951, BY UNITED FEATURE SYNDICATE, INC. REPRODUCTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART PROHIBITED.)